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US navy searches for pilot after two FA-18 fighter jets crash in Pacific Two FA-18 fighter jets crash in Pacific as navy search for pilot continues
(about 7 hours later)
Pentagon officials say two US navy jets have crashed into the western Pacific Ocean and that one pilot was rescued and a search is on for the other. Two US navy jets crashed into the western Pacific Ocean on Friday and only one pilot was immediately rescued, military officials said. A night search for the missing pilot was underway.
The FA-18 Hornet fighter jets were from Carrier Air Wing 17 based at Naval Air Station Lemoore in California’s San Joaquin Valley. The air wing is embarked on the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson. The FA-18C Hornet fighter jets were from Carrier Air Wing 17 based at Naval Air Station Lemoore in California’s San Joaquin Valley. The air wing is embarked on the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson.
The navy says the rescued pilot was returned to the carrier and is being treated. It says the planes haven’t been recovered. The crash occurred at 5.40pm local time about 290 miles west of Wake Island, navy commander Jeannie Groeneveld said from San Diego. Wake Island is 2,300 miles west of Honolulu.
Officials say other aircraft still in the air in the vicinity were safely recovered. Groeneveld said she couldn’t release details of the crash, but an investigation already had started.
An FA-18E Super Hornet crashed in June as it prepared to land on the Carl Vinson off the southern California coast. The pilot was able to eject safely. The rescued pilot was in fair condition in the medical department of the Carl Vinson, she said.
All other aircraft that were airborne at the time safely returned to the ship.The search for the missing pilot involved the guided-missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill, the guided-missile destroyer USS Gridley, the USS Sperett, the USS Dewey and two helicopter squadrons.
The Carl Vinson strike group team departed San Diego on Aug. 22 for what was announced as a 9 1/2-month deployment.
The FA-18C is a twin-engine, single-seat strike fighter, designed to function both as a fighter in roles such as engaging enemy aircraft and as an attack aircraft, bombing ground targets for example. Fifty-six feet long and with a wingspan of 40.5 feet, Hornet C models have been deployed since the late 1980s.
Built by prime contractor McDonnell Douglas, the jets are capable of flying at speeds greater than Mach 1.7 and altitudes of more than 50,000 feet, according to the navy.
An FA-18E Super Hornet, a larger and more recent variant, crashed in June as it prepared to land on the Carl Vinson off the Southern California coast. The pilot was able to eject safely.
That crash happened just hours after a Harrier AV-8B fighter jet crashed into a southern California neighborhood, destroying two homes and badly damaging a third. No one was seriously hurt.
About a month earlier, a marine corps Harrier jet had crashed on tribal land south of Phoenix, but the pilot was able to safely eject. And on 1 March, marine captain Reid Nannen was killed in a fighter jet crash during a training exercise in Nevada.